Hey, I am looking for a bike for commuting and for the occasional long ride. (I am pretty set on getting a road bike-esque bike though… I want the dropped bars) I don't have a lot to spend so I was looking at the Specialized Sequoia and the Kona Jake. I have ridden them both and they both feel pretty good. I liked that the Jake can go off-road if needed, but I thought I could also just throw some slightly more knobby tires on the Sequoia to cover the occasional side trail I may find myself on. The Sequoia is about $750 and the Jake is about $800 so they aren't too far apart price wise. Do you have any suggestions?

Jake: steek fork
Sequoia: CF fork

OP wants to go a-side trippin': get the Jake all day long.

I love my Jake. The only thing I'd want on it from the Sequoia is the adjustable stem (I need a stem with a slightly higher rise). It has no problem with doing some light/medium offroading...

My suggestion would be to buy a lightly used Jake the Snake in the $5-600 range off ebay.

There are none on there right this second, but there is a fairly regular stream of them - and resale value seems to suck. I bought one a while back for around $550 shipped and it looked brand new. Even the tires were new because the previous owner had been riding with a different set of wheels.

My GF has a Sequoia. Nice, but not sexy (the bike!). Get the Jake...

I will be the voice of dissent. I have a JTS, my wife rides a sequoia elite. If you were just commuting I'd say get the jake, but since you mentioned long rides, I would go with the sequoia because its better suited to LD riding. It is purpose built to ride comfortably over long distances. It also has rack mounts so you can use it for commuting easily. The jake frame was designed to be a racing frame, so the goemetry is rather aggressive. Over a long ride this can start to take its toll. You can manipulate this with longer stems with greater rise, but why not stick with the sequoia where the frame is designed for LD comfort?

There is only one thing which would make me change my suggestion, and that is that you will ride year round and want to put studded tires on the bike at some point. In that case get the Jake, as the sequoia may have issues with tires much wider than 28s and there is NO WAY it will handle 700-37s, which are about as small as I've seen studded tires.

The Jake the Snake is a racing frame made from lighter weight tubing. The Jake is made from heavier tubing and has rack/fender mounts, and a more slack geometry. You won't fit bigger thant 28mm tires under fenders on the Jake, and no more than 32 without fenders. I might be able to squeeze my 35mm Nokians under the fork, but not the rear, and certainly not with fenders. If you want bigger tires AND drop bars, check out the Surly Cross-check.

I love my Jake and ride it whenever there's no ice/salt on the roads. Mine takes a beating on rough pavement, and has stayed true and trouble-free. I strongly recommend it.

might I suggest a Fantom Cross?
https://www.bikesdirect.com/products/...reorder100.htm
I like mine!
I was able to get one last year for under $700 shipped from Ebay. Very nice ride, wish i had more time to put miles on it.
Cheers

"No more than 32 without fenders"

Huh?

The Jake comes with 35s!

Re: DogBoy's comments: As legot73 mentioned, the geometry on a standard Jake is a bit more relaxed than a JTS. Although, as you mention, the Sequoia is designed more for LD riding than the Jake.

Re: legot73's tire comments: The Jake comes with 35s standard, so it can certainly take a 35 and probably a 38 without fenders. With fenders, 28's definitely, possibly 32 depending on the fenders.

Ooops, my bad. It does come with 35's, which I never rode. Although in error, I can't fit 32's under the Planet Bike fenders, especially in the rear. It's the chainstay bridge that limits the tire clearance in the rear. So, my Nokians would fit, after all. I choose to abuse a less favored bike with salt in the winter.

I ran some studded 40's on my Jake this winter for a bit. Wasn't a whole lot of clearance left, but it worked. With my Freddy Fenders, maybe 32's, but I doubt it. I run 28's for the commute.
I was under the impression that the geometry of the Jake was the same as the JTS. Mines an 05 and I thought that was what I read when i was looking at them. I have been wrong before though.

I can fit 35 knobbies *just barely* under sks chromoplastics on my Aurora.

Thank you for all the suggestions!

I've been looking over the specs on the two bikes because I have nothing better to do. The components are very, very similar. Mix of Tiagra and Sora. Both have the Sora shifters which I didn't like much when I tried them, but that's a personal thing.

The difference is going to come down to the frame. The Jake will probably have slightly racier geometry, but will also be heavier, as it is aluminum/steel instead of steel/carbon fiber. This also make sit much more suited to long roads. I've seen the sequoia's with rear racks, though the carbon fiber seat stays make me nervous if the load is really big. But neither bike is really a tourer, so huge loads shouldn't be expected of them.

I'd say if you know right now that most of your riding is going to be on-road and the off-road will be very, very non-technical. A tougher road-esque bike like the Jake can take a lot more serious off roading, but is heavier, as I said. If you're a wacko, you can take beefy road bikes on some fairly technical stuff.

If you're not completely sure what your riding habits will be, get the Jake. It's simply more versatile.

This is assuming that one or the other bike doesn't "feel" way better than the other, because that's pretty much the most important thing.

Thanks. I think I have now decided that I want a cyclocross bike, I can only afford one bike and I know that I will be wanting to go on a trail once and a while. The main use for the bike will be commuting and random 60 minute fitness adventures.
So, I have been looking at more cyclocross bikes, I found the Ibex X-ray comes with some 105 components. The Specialized Tricross seems a little too entry level for is starting price of 1100, it looks similar to the Kona Jake. The Trek bikes are a little out of my price range. The Motobecane Fantom Cross looks interesting also, I just wouldnt be able to test ride it like the Ibex.
I think I am going to look into the Jake a little more; I am defiantly leaning toward this one.
Would you guys suggest looking into the Specialized Tricross?

I actually cross-shopped a sequoia against a JTS.

I found the specialized uncomfortable, especially the saddle. Not a big issue, but the LBS got under my skin when they refused to switch it out in favor of a different saddle / seat post unless I paid for the full cots of the new parts.

JTS is on the aggressive side, but I've ridden it on metric centuries. It will beat you up more than some, but the flip side is that it feels very lively and pretty special. I tend to use it 70% of the time on the commute, and my old MTB with slicks the rest of the time, when i need a change.

In terms of cross bikes, I'd also look at a Jamis Nova in your price range.

Don't know your weight, but if you're a clyde (like me), it's worth checking wheelsets very carefully.

The tricross is a nice rig and I am a fan of Specialized, but Redline makes some great cross bikes too. The Conquest Pro is definitely worth checking out. These can be found on eBay from time to time at a significant savings.

I have an '06 Tricross Comp. It's definitely a great all-round bike. The '07 has a better frame and triple gearing. Sweet.